Pope John Paul II, echoing the documents of Vatican II, proclaimed that it is the call of the Universal Church to evangelize.  This message has been emphasized and reinforced by all popes starting with Paul VI.

At Saint Joseph Parish, we have been inspired to evangelize by Matthew Kelly, who visited us in 2015.  Matthew’s books (in the kiosks in the narthex), the Alpha Program and the book Divine Renovation by Father James Mallon have all helped us begin to bring evangelization to a practical level.

We started by constructing a mission statement for our parish, which appears on the front cover of our weekly bulletin:

Like our Patron, Saint Joseph, the Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are called to foster the presence of Christ in all that we say and do.  Our mission is to grow disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our mission statement is based on Jesus’ commission to go, teach, baptize and make disciples.  It states how Saint Joseph Parish will put into practice what recent popes have called us to do. 

The Divine Renovation book and guidebook are serving as the inspiration for our parish’s approach to fulfilling our mission.  Transforming our parish in this way will be a long, thoughtful, prayerful process that will take time to fully implement.  It is a discipleship journey, on which all parishioners strive to become “the best version of ourselves”.